unlikely to make the hall of fame despite their gaudy numbers and rightly so. the bill for the roi d era has come due. for them the bill is cheap compared to those who will lose their lived because of years of steroid use. every athlete who has gone from poor to a 1%er owes marvin for that. >> i love marvin miller, three strikes and he won. thank you. good afternoon. it's friday, november 30th, and someone just told boehner and the boys there's no christmas this year, and they're very angry. >> we can solve these problems. right now congress can pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. >> let's not kid ourselves. >> this is really insulting.

>> don't give me the switcheroo. >> this isn't a deal, folks. >> it's reprehensible. >> they were offered easier terms. >> shame on them! i can't even talk about it anymore! >> mitch mcconnell burst into laughter. >> this is a unicorn budget. >> stop stealing from our kids. >> you know i'm right. >> your show, fox news, you you guys are too angry. >> i'm not angry, governor. >> santa delivers everywhere. i've been keeping my own naughty and nice list. >> tgif, everyone. ♪ a happy friday to all of you and we begin with a man that one losing presidential candidate calls santa claus but we refer to as the president of the united states visiting a toy factory outside of philadelphia. the president, who toured the

land of tinker toys and angry birds, had a dual purpose. first, promoting american-made products, and then in between a few jokes made at the expense of his vice president, he delivered a stern message to congressional republicans who are in danger of spoiling christmas for everyone. >> if congress does nothing h every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. i'm assuming that doesn't sound too good to go. that's sort of like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> but you forget, mr. president, republicans like coal. in fact, moments after that speech, house speaker john boehner emerged with his own unique brand of humbug. >> there's a stalemate. let's not kid ourselves. i'm not trying to make this more difficult. if you've watched me over the last three weeks, i have been

very a guarded in what i have to say. >> now, now, now, you know how this works. santa doesn't bring you anything unless you write down specifically what you want, something republicans patently refuse to do. instead, mr. boehner fell back on a plan that he keeps trotting out and that americans keep voting down. >> well, you can look at our budget from the last two years and there are plenty of specific proposals, most of which were part of the conversation that the president and i had two years ago or a year and a half ago. >> oh, yes. the paul ryan budget. because what better to bring good tidings of comfort and joy than balancing tax cuts for the rich on the backs of intitlement cuts for the working poor. mind you, that's actually a healthier reaction than that of mr. boehner's colleague in the senate, mitch mccandle, who repo reportedly laughed at the president's budget. at least he doesn't invoke the

civil war. yes, the american civil war, when talking budget cuts. >> it's not just a bad deal. this is really an insulting deal. what geithner offered, what you showed on the screen, robert e. lee was offered easier terms at appomattox and he losted the civil war. >> now, now, now, charles, that's not very christmassy of you. we don't mind if you wrap yourself to the flag, just make sure it's the one with 50 stars on it. dr. james peterson is a contributor to thegrio.com and robert reich is former labor secretary a and a professor and the author of "beyond outrage," now available in paperback. welcome to both of you. dr. peterson, i could have sworn we had an election earlier this month, but today i saw the president having to go on the road again to fight a republican who points to the ryan budget plan as his compromising answer to the deficit. did i dream that the election

ever happened? >> you didn't dream it. let's hope that the amnesia will stay limited to the republican leadership in congress and, listen, i don't think that these guys will be able to sing the same tune once we sort of go off the fiscal curb here because once this discussion changes to do you want to vote for a tax cut for 98% of americans, i think that's where president obama will have more leverage in some of thots discussions. it's a shame we can't move beyond the gridlock. >> but dr. peterson, i have just heard speaker boehner say look at the last two years. look at the ryan budget, which, of course, in neither of the two years received a single vote by democrats. >> well, listen, like joy reid on this network has said, hopefully mr. boehner will be able to sing a different tune once the tea party caucus is more di anyone initiminished an

speakership is re-established on january 3rd. my sense is going off the fiscal slope or curve or cliff is probably the best case scenario for president obama. >> professor reich, the president has offered a mix of taxes and spending cuts in his plan. mr. boehner responded with the ryan budget five minutes after saying they wanted a bipartisan solution. have they put any thought whatsoever into any of this? what have they been doing on all their days off. >> i don't think they've been doing anything but licking their wounds. basically the republicans are hunkered down. they don't seem able or willing to come up with any compromise, any genuine compromise, they haven't for the entire administration up until now. why should we suppose they're going to do so right at this moment? it's a lame duck congress. anybody who thinks this congress is going to come up with and the republicans in this congress are going to come up with some solution doesn't understand the

republican house of represent at thises and doesn't under ducks. >> to that point, 114 million americans will see their taxes go up in four weeks. i mean, you say this is a lame duck congress, but there was an election and there is an impending cliff. >> well, i understand that, martin, and you understand that, and democratsened that, and the president understand that, but for some reason the fact of the lex and the fact of the fiscal cliff don't seem to penetrate the republican mind in congress, and that is going to be unfortunate for republicans because most of americans, the polls show, will blame the republicans if, in fact, their tacks go up january 1st. that's the big issue. who is going to get blamed? i have been at this game for many years. i remember when newt gingrich played the game of chicken with bill clinton and the question was who is going to get blamed? well, it was the republicans, and it was newt gingrich. and it look as though it's going

to happen once again. republicans in the house especially are going to be blamed, and that means bad news for republicans not only over the next couple years but also in -- well, really over the next several elections. we don't even have to limit it to the next election. >> dr. peterson, mr. boehner also said something very curious today. he said, and i'm quoting him, he took a great risk in his speech the day after the election when he said he was open to more revenue. he was putting revenues on the table, but the only thing he said was exactly what mitt romney had been saying for the last years, closing loopholes and reducing deductions. >> and, martin, he still had to walk that back afterwards. professor reich is right here. what the american people need to understand is that we're looking at a political party that for different reasons can sometimes put politics ahead of the people. and the reasons here have to do with the monied interests and the way they represent the 1%

from a political perspective. so, again, my hope is that once the tea party congress within -- the tea party caucus within the congress is diminished in the new year, we've gone off the fiscal curb, we can have some reality in the discussions we need to have. >> but professor reich, boehner says there's a stalemate. but realistically, is the stalemate between democrats and republicans or is it more between republicans who want to make a deal and those -- >> and grover norquist. >> -- that dr. peterson just referred to, grover norquist, who are hell bent on expediting their own ideology whatever happens? >> i think there's a quiet civil war going on in the republican party right now between those who want to survive and that's who want to go over their own cliff into ooblivion. the survivors, let's hope john boehner is one of them, are saying to their own kind of suicidal group of right wingers,

look, i don't want you to take us along with you. we're going to have to compromise. we don't want to be seen by the public as being shills for the super rich. we want 98% of americans to have a tax cut come next year. i mean, representative tom cole was one of them who was quite explicit in saying we need to be on the side of most americans and be seen as being in favor of a tax cut for 98% of americans. well, let's see what the republicans are going to do. i don't know who is going to come out on the winning side of this civil war, but let's hope that the sane, level heads actually prevail. >> dr. peterson, has it surprised you it appear that is republicans have learned nothing since the election, which after all pitched the very super wealthy and the president repeatedly talked about this, versus the majority of americans? >> actually it has not surprised me, martin, because when we're

talking about this wing of the republican party, first of all, there's some of them that actually believe in the ideology. they believe in the idea that tax cuts for the rich somehow creates jobs. some of them really believe this. the res of them are beholden to lobbyists and different pledges they have made to different folks like grover norquist who are really outside of politics in some ways. at the end of the day there will have to be a reckoning with the american people. they don't just have to moderate themselves along the fiscal lines, they have to moderate themselves into terms of cultural issues. they have to have more moderation in their party overall. my sense is that i think those folk will win out because the electorate will sort of inform their party in ways that will make them a more sensible political party for the united states. >> i think that's absolutely right. the question here is do they

have more of an allegiance to grover norquist than to the united states? do they pledge allegiance to grover or to america? >> simple. >> and americans can see this. this is not hidden behind the veil. if they turn out to have more of an allegiance to grover norquist and that republican orthodoxy, they will be a minority party for at least a generation. >> professor robert reich and dr. james peterson, wisdom galore. next, the economy shows real signs of life. will a cliff dive send it spiraling downward? stay with us. >> thousand or millions. >> millions. >> okay. >> no, i'm sorry, greta, thousands. >> oh -- >> no. between $27 million and $40 million. >> okay. >> a year. ♪

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the most severely conservative of republican pundits have consulted their unskewed polling and they see an electorate that will reward any republican who refuses to compromise on the fiscal cliff. now, we know that attitude didn't work well with voters when republicans held the debt ceiling hostage last year, but now with the economy showing signs of life this week, the question becomes will they again place ideology above country? for more we go to julian epstein, a democratic strategist and professor michael eric dyson of georgetown university and an msnbc political analyst. welcome to you both. professor dyson, the economy appears to be rebounding. gdp was better in the third quarter than we thought, up from 2% to 2.7%. and by one estimate new home

sales this year will be up 8%, and yet conservatives advise us to place ideology first. now, do they realize what that could do to this country come january and that it will plunge the nation into a certain depression? >> martin, they realize it, but i'm afraid they don't care. the reality is -- >> do you really believe that, professor dyson? >> i absolutely do. i believe this, i believe they are so mon know maniacal about pursuing their ideological beliefs they would defer even the fate of this nation to their particular policies, to their particular public policy recommendations and to their particular politics and ideology. why would we believe anything different? every critical moment in the last two years they proved to be partisans to their particular politics. they're not patriots for the broader sake of the nation. they are concerned about getting in their ideological points. that is tea partyism, the way in

which the constitution has been constructed according to them as strict constructionists. has to be wiping out every other concern of so-called minorities and their obsession with this fiscal cliff purity means they will put aside the interests of the nation, the polls have indicated that the nation is behind president obama. the few rays of sunshine that are now beaming down from the cosmos to suggest that this economy is in recovery will be put immediately back into the emergency room because of the destructive practices of the far right. >> julian, do you agree with professor dyson? >> i have a slightly different take on the brilliant professor dyson. first of all, just on the economic figures. 2.7% gdp growth, we should not let that go uncommented on. that's a swing of positive 12% in gdp. give where this economy was when obama came in, that is probably the most significant and robust economic recovery we have seen in our lifetime. point two on the fiscal cliff, i mean, i think it's clear as

professor dyson says that republicans are losing this argument politically. they lost the election. you see republicans like coburn beginning to crack. and every single poll shows that the republicans are losing the debate, both on the fiscal cliff and on the tax issue. they're losing the issue politically. i think they know they're losing the issue politically, and i think they know at some point they are going to have to concede a deal that are largely on president obama's terms. but they're also losing the argument with economists. if you consider what president obama put forward yesterday with a $1.6 trillion in tax increases mostly on the wealthy, every single economic study has shown that that will have virtually no impact on gdp growth. the congressional budget office did a study that showed that it would decrease gdp growth by 0.1%. virtually no impact. republicans didn't like that cbo study although they always like the cbo. so they went to crs to see if they could do another study that would differ from the cbo study.

crs confirmed it. all the economists are unanimous if we're going to try to go after the debt, now that we have virtually 3% gdp growth, we want do it in a way that's least damaging to the economy. almost all of them agree the obama approach is the right approach. increasing the rates on the wealthy will have no impact on job creation or gdp growth. >> professor dyson, we found out today that the austerity budgets used in the eurozone have sent employment to record highs. unemployment in spain is at 25%. unemployment in greece, 25%. how is it possible speaker boehner comes out and promotes paul ryan's budget for 2011 and 2012 as somehow the answer to our fiscal problems? >> i mean, this is the indication that i'm afraid that they're stuck in the mud attitude and their ostrich-like oblivion to what's going on in the real world will lead to disastrous consequences. i hope my good friend julian epstein is right crunching those numbers. the cbo, the cds, they're going

to cbs even to check out the apoth carries to find out what they're prognosticating. these people are insensitive to the critical claims of the electorate and the voter out here, the population out here that says, look, we're tired of this. we're tired of this mangling the record of obama for the sake of your ideology. we're tired of you going out here trying to prove your bona fides by adhering to a principle that has nothing to do with the bottom line. the reality is they are oblivious to the numbers because the number they're concerned about is the amount of people that they can drum up, if you will, the lock step movement of the house run by republicans to make sure that obama is still resisted. now, do i want to be wrong? absolutely. do i think that there is some wiggle room? absolutely. do i pray that julian epstein is right? absolutely. but the bonerism -- excuse me,

the boehnerism in this country needs to be resisted. >> call me naive -- >> very quickly, julian. >> there's a point in every debate that we call a tipping point where one side realizes it's lost the debate. republicans realize they have lost the debate. not again just because of the election and what all the polls are saying, but because all of the economists are saying the obama approach is the more responsible approach. >> and -- >> and that's the tripping point and they're still tripping. >> touche on the tripping point but there's a reason that obama is taking this case to swing voters in pennsylvania and elsewhe elsewhere. >> gentlemen -- >> he knows he's going to win the argument and he knows republicans will pay a dear political price. >> julian epstein and professor michael ireric dyson. thank you so much. stay with us.

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weeks to respond with any kind of a proposal and much to my disappointment, it wasn't a serious one. >> we've got to get serious here. >> time for the president and the democrats to get serious. the white house has to get serious. >> that was the sound of congressional republicans increasing outrage at the president and his popular proposal for handling the fiscal cliff. we're joined by nbc's luke russert. luke, help me now because i just want you to answer this question. did anyone in this country vote for the ryan budget on november the 6th? >> reporter: well, people voted for the ryan budget, that side lost though, martin, as you saw. what's interesting is house republicans are saying they want a more serious offer, but the big story here aside from the republicans rejecting the democrats' first offer, is the republicans are really trying to push the 2011 language about the so-called almost agreement between john boehner and president obama. it's that language that had more cuts to entitlements, more

language where revenue was capped at $800 billion. they're trying to say let's go back to the 2011 agreement -- >> but there's been a presidential election. >> reporter: and that point has essentially up to right now been lost. they're negotiating from the 2011 position because they think that puts them in the best position to get as much as they can in terms of this debate. >> right. okay. well, thank you very much. nbc's luke russert. >> reporter: have a good weekend, martin. >> thank you. stay with us. the day's "top lines" are coming up. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan p-d-p gives you a low $18.50 monthly plan premium... and select generic hypertension drugs available for only a penny... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003.

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in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ from impure thoughts about grover and joe biden's costco binge to the fox news advent calendar. here are today's "top lines." happy christmas. >> i had impure thoughts about a man.

>> i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years. >> he's never met my wife and he better hope he doesn't, she'll knock his head off. >> it turned me on. >> obama putting a gun to the head of the american people. >> i cannot let this dance happen. >> you have this dance now. >> i have god's security. >> they want a divorce to grover norquist. >> as fast as they abandoned -- what's his name? >> always great to see paul ryan. >> it's a private lunch. >> mitt romney has been saying nobody should get a free lunch. >> 3 million bucks. >> just a photo-ost a photo-onh. >> three pack of shirts from costco. >> the intelligent people that work at fox news. >> the worst is you get a rent ideal car and you have no idea what your car looks like. >> operating as a wing of the republican party. >> thanks for joining us. >> is getting stoned now becoming more acceptable? >> the big bob marley joint. >> he's doing the pony. >> gangnam style. >> a fat guy.

>> thousand or million? >> i'm sorry, greta, thousands. no. >> little boys wielding blow dryers. you're swedish so it's your fault. >> i was publicly explicitly wrong. >> my own naughty and nice list. >> not a serious proposal. >> that offer is not a serious offer. >> thelma and louise economics. >> we're almost nowhere. >> i don't understand his brain. >> check out the big brain. >> that's a scrooge christmas. >> the grinch is trying to steal our holiday. >> nothing says christmas like santa and ak-47s. >> they're miserable so they want you to be miserable. >> they think there's a made-up war on christmas. >> the baby jesus being beaten. >> there is a war on christmas. >> why are you messing around with christmas. don't tell me what i think, got it? >> these controversies, you generate them here. >> you know i'm right. >> you guys are too angry. >> i want our traditions to be

aren'ted. >> well, merry christmas. >> liliana gil valletta and toure is my colleague and the co-host of "the cycle." governor lincoln chafee seems to suggest that the war on christmas is made up, that it's not a real war. what is he smoking? i thought it was a real war. >> i love saying merry christmas to people. i don't feel we need to be so pc that if i say merry christmas that's xaking jews or muslims or people who want to celebrate kwanzaa. this is bizarre to me. >> every year fox news says both on air and a number of their anchors have written books on this suggest, there's a continual war on christmas. >> you know, facts don't live in the alternate reality bubble. they just sort of go in and they die. you know, sometimes i find it difficult to understand how they think over there. i mean, you watch that network and do they -- i wonder if there

are elves who come up with the facts that they use over there because i'm like where do you get these things? it's constant head scratching territory. is it not? >> possibly. it is only two blocks away. lily, republicans in the house have passed a bill today. does this mean or suggest that republicans may have learned something from the election br, of course, latinos voted 71% for the president? >> it's interesting, we heard it before here. immigration definitely strikes a chord with hispanics because there's a large minority of undocumented hispanics who have relatives that want a solution. what i like about this, kind of looking from the positive side, is it's showing some intent of progress. however, it's still very limited when you look at the big pool of almost 12 million undocumented citizens or foreigners that we

have in this doesn't that are hoping for citizenship. so i like that it's something happening. you better take action after having three elections showing a declining number of support from latinos. otherwise you will disappear eventually as a party. >> if they let millions of more latinos vote, the republicans, then they will disappear as a party. >> that is true. touren the pantheon of house republican foreign policy experts, representative louie gohmert is one of the most thoughtful and clear-eyed. ear is his explanation of why the president chose to intervene in libya. >> this administration sent planes and bombs and support to oust gadhafi so that al qaeda and the muslim brotherhood could take over libya. >> just so i understand this, the president agrees and issues the directive to go after osama bin laden, the head of al qaeda, so that al qaeda can take

control of libya. >> facts don't live inside the conservative bubble. >> i know it's friday but -- >> we keep coming back to the same thing. maybe we'll talk about they start with a thesis of they hate obama. he's a horrible person -- >> but this gentleman is not a member of fox news. he's an elected congressman of the united states. >> well, as you know, there's ultimately no difference, right? they're in the same thought ecosystem, right? which is directed by the fox news, the rush limbaugh, the ann coulter what they say filters do unto the rank and file and they vote for these people who say these absurd things and get re-elected because they start with a thesis of obama is a horrible person, he's a foreigner, a terrorist himself. you would think by now if there was some manchurian candidate thing to obama, it would have already come out. >> i might have supposed that. >> we're in a second term here. this is a guy who is thinking for the history books, for the legacy. when you talk about obama care, something big that is comprehensive that changes america. i think he's going to be looking for something comprehensive in terms of latinos, something in

terms of foreign policy that will leave a mark on the world. and not just sort of piecemeal things and not trying to turn libya into a state run by al qaeda. it's such a dumb point that this person is making. ja let's go to another dumb individual. he's representative steve king of iowa, and here is how he thinks republicans might reach out to latino voters. take a listen to this, lily. >> whatever we might say we were going to do, reduce the enforcement of the rule of law, waive the ruling of law, democrats will find a way to hand deliver citizenship papers along with a great big check from money borrowed from the chinese. >> so there it is. great bigheckromrrro chinese. >> these are the moments when i am lost -- i have no words. >> this isn't an isolated comment. >> exactly. it's so sad. they need like a pr overhaul for the party because you have a pocket of people that get it.

you have the susana martinez that are trying and all of a sudden a comment like this comes out and it's back to square one. you're trying so hard but it really with comments like this, you go back to the ignorance of not realizing here is a number, i want everybody to remember. 62% of all u.s. hispanics are u.s. born. you don't have to buy us by giving citizenship papers or money. it's a bigger issue. it's a matter of respect, outreach, and a concerted effort that has a solid foundation and not just disrespectful ignorant comments. >> once again we're making reference to free stuff rather than respect for people. >> indeed. lily gill va let that, toure, thank you so much. enjoy your weekends and we'll be right back. >> you're still upset that mitt romney lost. >> i don't know -- i don't understand why it happened, john. i mean, we all agree that wealthy americans are the best

americans. >> well, not everybody agrees with that. >> everyone i know does. and mitt romney was the wealthy etion american or at least the wealthiest who was willing to touch your hands and lift your babies. wealthiest american or a the wealthiest who was willing to touch your hands and lift your babies.

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delusion they would win the white house. karen finney is former dn c communications director and perry bacon is the political editor for thegrio.com. karen, according to a story in the new republic, the romney's campaign internal polling was going somewhat hey ware in the final days of the race. in new hampshire, their final internal polling had him leading by 3.5 points and he lost by 5.6. in colorado it said mitt was ahead by 2.5 but he ended up losing by 5.5. how could these numbers be so wildly off the mark? >> generally i do words not numbers but even i could tell that the problem that they had -- a couple things. when we saw this in polling generally, number one, it seems they let their own biases and prejudices about the electorate itself color, and i don't mean that in a racial term, but i mean shade the way they were actually willing to look at the numbers because from the other things they've said, they

underestimated the strength of the african-american latino vote and young voters, but the data was all there. if they paid closer attention to it and not sort of ignored it. it was pretty obvious that their numbers were off because they were under polling and under sampling in those populations. >> so are you saying, karen, that their whole belief was basically wishful thinking? >> well, i am saying that their whole belief was based on a world view that, a, no longer exists, and b, they refuse to see outside of that world view. i think now they're in for a very rude awakening. >> perry, these same polls reveal 80% of undecided voters went for the president. romney's chief pollster said they underestimated the number of young people, african-americans, and latinos who showed up, just as karen just said. isn't that the most conclusive evidence yet that all the voter suppression efforts simply backfired, didn't they? we think about mr. hustad in

ohio, the governor in florida. all they did was inspire democrats to come out and vote. >> the romney campaign made two mistakes in terms of polling. the one was they had this almost religion thought that the young voters, minority voters would not turn out. one thing we didn't talk about enough during the election is a lot of people really like barack obama, particularly among the youth and minority voters and a lot of white voters as well really like barack obama. so they missed that. they seemed to think voting in '08 was an aberration and a fluke. that was a wrong assumption. the second thing they missed was a lot of polls, even some of the polls nbc did showed republican enthusiasm was a little higher than democratic enthusiasm in some states. the campaign took that to mean the democrats weren't going to turn out. some tea partiers were really excited but a lot of democrats were just as excited. >> right. karen, into today's "new york times" timothy egan writes, if you believe in climate change, finding a path to citizenship

for millions of hard working hispanics, and the right to marry the person you love, there is no place in the republican party of 2012 for you. when you toss in romney's contempt for 47% of the country and the ayn rand budget of paul ryan, it's hard to imagine romney himself believed these internal polls. >> apparently so. again, they had so deluded themselves about the reality of who this country is and what this country is about, again, it goes to they kept telling us we were just imagining the war on women and yet we were still talking about vaginal probes and legitimate rape. they truly convinced themselves, either that or it's abject malpractice on the part of their pollsters, they convinced themselves that those numbers of young people, african-american, latino wouldn't matter. just like they're kind of doing now. they're trying to convince themselves, people love the ryan budget, so, of course, we're going to fight the president. people don't love the ryan budget. we voted against it.

>> exactly. we've been saying that all hour. per perry, romney continues with the delusion. he now says the president won by handing out gifts. but, in fact, it was the gop that was given the gift of citizens united, a terrible economy, and even voter i.d. laws in no fewer than 13 states and they still lost. >> exactly right, martin. they seem to -- if you look forward now, they seem to have a bash strategy going forward. i'm not sure what they should do to win. they're very fixated right now on opposing susan rice. i'm not sure most american voters really care what the u.n. ambassador said on a random sunday show. it's not a good strategy. most americans support raising tacks on the wealthy. the two issues they picked since the election are not smart issues looking forward. i'm surprised they haven't taken better political counsel since the election because the romney pollsters are no longer rubbing the republican party, and john

boehner must know they're in a bad position but they're not changing their strategy since the election. >> prove positive romnesia is contagious. thank you both. next, the president returns to washington. will he receive a chilly reception? stay with us. but when i was in an accident... i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. so i never missed a beat. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake!

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the president has returned from his trip. he stopped in the suburbs of philadelphia earlier this afternoon to make a campaign-style push on budget negotiations with republicans. now, he's back at the white house, and there is where we find kristin welker. have republicans seen the polling on allowing the bush tax cuts to expire? they show 60% of the american people according to one measure

support doing this. is speaker boehner aware of this public polling do you know? >> reporter: i think republicans are aware of it, martin, but they also argue, look, they have the majority in the house so they still have responsibility to their constituents who don't want them to increase taxes on those making $250,000 or more. but, look, president obama believes that he has the leverage in this situation. that's why his initial offer really drew a hard line by all accounts. republicans balked at that offer, but the president really putting on the full-court press trying to get the public to put pressure on congressional republicans. so he's been inviting stakeholders to the white house all week and then, as you mentioned today, the president traveled to the suburbs of philadelphia to make his case as well. the white house also has this hash tag my2k that they are urging people to logon to and explain what $2,000 would mean to them. they're actually getting more traffic in the first three hours that that went up than during

the entire payroll tax cut fight when they tried a similar tactic. but republicans have been firing back all day. they have released a video of a company sort of near where president obama was speaking today that is opposed to increasing taxes on those making $250,000 or more. but martin, the bottom line is the clock is ticking here, and both sides seem to be retreating to their traditional corners. republicans saying they don't want to increase taxes and democrats essentially saying they're not going to cut a whole lot or reform entitlements to a large extent. >> so where do we go from here? >> reporter: well, that is, of course, the big question mark. i do believe, martin, there are negotiations going on behind the scenes that we can't see and that we're not getting all the details about. as you heard president obama mention in his first press conference, one of his goals in this second term is really to do a better job at reaching out to members of congress, could congressional leaders. we know he's been in contact with them for the past several

days. we don't have any specific phone calls scheduled, but i am told they will continue throughout the weekend and in the coming days. ja let's hope so. thanks so much, kristin welker. >> reporter: thank you. >> we'll be right back. >> let's. thanks so much, kristin welker. >> reporter: thank you. >> we'll be right back. ♪

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liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. it's time now to "clear the air." "with december upon us, it's time for some festive fighting. >> christmas was made an official holiday to honor the birth of somebody called jesus christ. >> exactly. >> it's unbelievable to me that we try to cover that up. >> it's not just the christmas tree. it's everything, all right? >> what do you mean -- >> we're a country that our traditions are absolutely implodin

imploding. >> it's the annual return of the fictitious but highly charged war on christmas. a conflict that was invented and sponsored by a certain television network. and on thursday one of that network's most recent guests actually came onto this broadcast and we asked the seasoned lawyer if he believes the narrative that they keep selling over at the war on christmas network. >> as i came to work this morning, there was the peerless sound of etta james singing "the cl christmas song" at a coffee shop. outside of my office is the eight-story rockefeller center christmas tree. at the white house staff have spent days decking the halls of the presidential residence. i have children who have appeared in multiple nativity plays and i myself will be reading one of the lessons at a cathedral midnight service on christmas eve.

but fox news says there is a war on christmas. am i missing something, sir? jo well, i think there's no war on christmas. >> as you can imagine, i almost fell off my chair when he conceded there's no such thing as a war on christmas, particularly since just the day before he'd been used to justify yet another flogging of this knackered old horse. thankfully outside of the war on christmas network, the real world continues to celebrate the birth of christ. all the war on christmas network continues to claim that saying happy holidays instead of happy christmas is the first step to encouraging euthanasia and infant side, well, that hasn't quite happened yet. what did happen was a sure sign of what christmas really means, an unconditional gift to a world in need, and here is the proof. nypd officer larry deprimo who decided to spend $75 of his